Bequest Gifts

What Will Your Legacy Be?

Your estate gift helps to ensure the Masonic Charities future. You can select one or more Masonic Charities to benefit at your passing. Or, you can make an unrestricted gift to the Masonic Charities, which gives the Masonic Charities maximum flexibility to use your gift where it will have the most impact. There are many ways to leave a lasting legacy through your estate plan.

Bequest and Living Trust Designations

A will or living trust that includes one or more of the Masonic Charities as a charitable beneficiary is no different than any other will, except that it includes bequest language to benefit one or more of the Masonic Charities. The bequest can be structured in a variety of ways. You can elect to leave one or more of the Masonic Charities a specific dollar amount, a set percentage of the total value of your estate or the remainder of your estate after you have provided for family and friends. We recommend you share the following language with the attorney who is drafting your will or living trust:

Unrestricted

“I give, devise, and bequeath to (name of Masonic Charity), the sum of $ (amount)
"OR" (amount) percent of my estate “OR” the rest, residue and remainder of my estate.”

Restricted

If you elect to restrict your gift to a particular endowment or fund of one of the Masonic Charities, add the following language to the unrestricted language:

“…for the benefit of the (name of endowment or fund) to be used for (description of use).”
In order to save your estate possible additional income taxes, if you have retirement accounts, savings bonds or other assets subject to income tax at your death, we recommend including the following language in all wills and living trusts:

“I instruct that all of my charitable gifts, bequests and devises shall be made, to the extent possible, from property that constitutes “income in respect of a decedent” as that term is defined by the Internal Revenue Code and the laws of my home state.”

Note: Naming opportunities and endowments have various gift minimums which may change over time. To discuss these opportunities, or other possible allocations for your bequest, please contact the Office of Gift Planning at one of the numbers listed on the Contact Us page.

Retirement Plan Designations

For many individuals, qualified retirement plans such as Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and Keoghs may represent a disproportionate percentage of their net worth. By naming one or more of the Masonic Charities on the change of beneficiary form for your retirement plan, you can designate that charity to receive a percentage of the funds left in the account at your passing.

Not only is this simpler than drafting a codicil to your will, it also has tax advantages. If your qualified plan assets pass to someone other than your spouse at your death, they may be subject to both income and estate taxes. For some individuals, this can result in more than 70% of the account’s value going to the government in taxes. When one of the Masonic Charities or other charities are designated as the beneficiary, no income or estate taxes are due at all! Similar to a bequest, you can also select the endowment fund or activity of the Masonic Charities to benefit from a retirement gift.

Life Insurance Designations

As we go through life, our insurance needs are constantly changing. Often times, the reasons we take out insurance policies “go away” with time. Examples: making sure there is enough money for children’s education, or ensuring our spouse can pay off the mortgage in case of the unexpected. After a point, such policies may no longer be necessary to our financial planning.

If you own a fully paid life insurance policy, consider naming one or more of the Masonic Charities as the beneficiary of all or part of the proceeds. It’s relatively easy to do: just as with retirement plan designations, you contact your insurance carrier and complete a change of beneficiary form for the benefit of one or more of the Masonic Charities.